9. Audiences: Attention, Retention, and How Hearts and Minds Work

About a dozen times in the past year I’ve stood in front of groups of executives or students and conducted a demonstration. One group was about 500 U.S. employees of a European bank. Another was about 20 people in the TV studio of a large U.S. insurance company, with another 200 watching remotely. Several groups were graduate students, some in NYU’s executive MBA program and some in NYU’s MS in PR/Corporate Communication program. And about half the groups were executives in different parts of a global pharmaceutical company, including one with several neuroscientists in attendance.

The demonstration comes about halfway through a three-hour workshop on persuasion and leadership communication skills, usually just after a break. I grasp a lemon between my thumb and middle finger, and hold it out to the audience. “What’s this?” “It’s a lemon.” “Right. A lemon. Now, please pay attention.” Then, with some flourish, I slice the lemon in half and hold the flesh side toward the audience. I then tuck the end of a towel into my collar, stab the lemon a few times with a fork, and hold the end of the towel away from me, to protect my suit. Then I aggressively and noisily shove the half lemon into my mouth, and chew the flesh vigorously while the juice runs down my cheeks and chin, through my beard, and onto the towel. The audienc....